《The Blue Mage of Power *Temporary Title*》 Prologue Prologue Dark.... All Icould feel is the darkness surrounding me. It feels warm, like wrapped in a blanket, keeping me safe and content. It''s an unusual feeling. Not being able to open your eyes or know where you are but there''s no sense of being lost, being alone, only a strange comfort that you''re gonna beokay. It feels weird not knowing who you are, but you recall distant memories, memories that areimportant to you, the one that you should never forget, but its out reach, you can almost touch the tip of that forgotten memory but then it vanishes. I don''t know anymore. Seems like my sense of time is warp, like I can''t tell how long I''ve been here. Has it been hours, days, weeks or month or even years. I keep waiting. Waiting for that sense of panic, that strangling paranoia, the constricting of the heart. But what I was expecting never happened. Suddenly, I feel exhausted and the need of sleep overcome me. ***** I''m still in the same situation, but I could feel myself getting bigger, stronger. taking shape into something significant. I can feel my limb twisting and turning, growing into an arm, a leg, a body. I guess I have grown a pair of ears, because I can hear sound, strange noises outside whatever place I''m in. I guess I could somehow guess, I''m maybe a fetus growing inside of a woman or in a mad scientist laboratory, like one of those test-tube babies. I shuddered at the thought. Hmm.. maybe this is how you are born into the world, with a strong sense of awareness and maybe slightly advance intelligence? And then you forget everything after you come out of the womb, and then you become more dumber, more primitive?This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. *Sigh* I''m not even making sense anymore. Here we go, the feeling of tiredness hit me again. I don''t know how many times I''ve slept since I''ve been here but its been more than I could count. **** I''m definitely bigger and more developed than before. I''m a complete baby, with my head, eyes, noseblablabla.. you get the idea. I still can''t open my eyes, I guess because I''m still inside my mother to be''s stomach. But today, something seems different. I can feel something moving around me, enveloping me. It''s a feeling that''s hard to describe. Its magical and weird at the same time, I can feel it nourishing me, making my development even more faster. In fact, my body yearns for it and calls for it, it''s a strange feeling. Somehow I''m getting a sense of colour, like a blue tint particle. Slow moving, it drifts and wafts like a falling leaf, it rises and falls like feather riding across a gentle breeze. The a word slowly came to my mind. ''Mana'' A type of miraculous energy that enables the use of magic. ''Magic!'' No way, I said to myself. Thiscan''''tbe. I''m goingto beborn in a world where magic exist, where in the world am I? Excitement, fear and happiness were the emotion I felt all at once. **** I can feel that my time in my tiny world of darkness will soon be ending. During the time that I have discovered mana, I have initiated some sort of experiment with it. I feel like I could interact with this miraculous energy. I willed it towards me, influencing its path, I watch it being flowing in my body and flowing back out again. I wondered how magicians use mana toperformtheir magic. Mana just seems to flow pass me, like an etherial ghost. I wonder if they usesome kind of container, or maybe they entrapped mana in one of those stones you see in mage staff. Curious.. Maybe if I could somehow entrapped the mana inside my body, I could use a form of magic that way. Sensing my self and the mana surrounding me, I notice the blood flowing around my body. I don''t why but I can somehow project an image into my head, through my senses. It''s hard to explain, but I think its similar to a spiritual sense. I focused hard on the red liquid, and then my heart which pumps blood and oxygen into my fragile body. Suddenly I had an idea. What if I use my heart as a container for the mana, somehow will the mana particle to fuse with my heart. Iamexcitedand ecstatic. Calming myself down as best I could. I used my spiritual sense to will a single digit mana particle the size of a grain of rice, towards my beating heart. Slowly the mana drifted towards my heart. Finally sensing that the mana is inside my heart, I will for them to fuse. The mana disappeared, integrating into my heart. Then everything stopped! My head, my body, my bones, neural nerves. My vision went blurry as tears filled my undeveloped eyes. Biting the pain was barely an option as agonizing cramps seemed to crush my insides from within. I was sure it''d all be over soon enough. Pain would never last that long, right? The realization that I was wrong causea moment ofpanic. I tried as best I could to block out the pain, to find some form of meditative trancein order tocope with the agonizing sensations. I wanted to die. It feels like Iambeing burnedaliveby a searing unforgiving pain. ''WHAT THE FUCK WAS I THINKING??!!'' ''THIS WASNT THE BEST IDEA EVER!!'' ''FUCK!!'' Prologue II Prologue II Sylvia Rescher is hunch reading a book atop a queen sized bed. A fluffy blanket covered her but it couldn''t hide the massive belly underneath the covers. Its been four months since she found out she was pregnant, and it was no suprise to her, that the baby seemed ready to come out soon. Magicians were far from the norm. especially a magician with noble blood coursing through her veins and one who achieved the magician rank of ''Thirva'' at the age of 30. It is a well-known fact that magicians conceived their child early due to the dense amount of mana in their body, it speeds up the baby''s development and makes the baby stronger than normal. The stronger the magician, the faster the growth. Resting her finger tips to flip to the next page, she look up and smiled as she saw her husband, just across the room, sat on a chair writing furiously on a parchment. Mason Rescher, sensing his wifes gaze, smiled reassuringly at her. Brushing his hand across his black short hair, "How you feeling? Has the baby kick yet." he asked. Sylvia frowned for a moment and then shook her head, "No. Its weird, the baby is strangely quiet. There doesn''t seem to be any activity. According to Wendy, it should happen the closer it is to labour." Getting up from his chair, Mason walked towards his wife and placed his hand on top of hers, reassuringly. "Relax, I''m sure the baby is fine, our baby is strong, especially when it''s from us. You a Thirva mage and me a rank 4 sword mage." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "I know, I know. I just can''t help but worry." "OUCHHH!!" suddenly Sylvia screamed in agony. She screamed at the top of her lungs. Reacting quickly, Mason shouted for the servants to get the Physician straight away Mason held her wife comforting her. *** It seemed like a long time, his wife squeezing his hand as hard as she could, although an external mage is not as physically strong as an internal mage, her empowered grip still hurts. Especially when she reach the rank of a Thirva, a mage who has formed her third mage stone and is capable of using a third rank external spell. Suddenly the door bust open and a man wearing a white robe entered. He suddenly rushed beside her and examined her condition. His face turned grim and he placed his hand on her belly, in an attempt to calm the mana going wild inside her. "Evran, what''s wrong with her, what''s wrong with my wife." Mason asked urgently, his eyes still watching his wife face, etched with pain. "I don''t know, but she''s in a critical condition. The child within her, seems to gathering a lot of mana, not only endangering its own life, but also its mother." he explained grimly. "Is there anything that can be done." "Yes. Buts its going to be dangerous. At the moment, your baby is like a ticking time bomb. I don''t know why your baby is attracting this a ridiculous amount of mana, but I need you to suck most of the mana that is converging inside of him, and I will cast a protective barrier inside your wife belly, stabilising her condition." Mason nodded and place both of his hands, on top of Sylvia''s belly and begun to call out the mana. "Damn it! The mana doesn''t seem to be responding to my call." "COME ON, COME ON!!!!" he shouted. "It''s not working!" Mason shouted in despair. "Sylvia, if you can hear me, you have to push!!" shouted Evran. "It''s the only way to save your life and your childs!" Sylvia screamed as she mustered the strength to push and deliver the baby as safely as she could. The baby, came out smoothly, Mason grabbed the baby softly and begun sucking away the overflowing mana and putting it back in the air. Sylvia collapse from the pain and exhaustion, while Evran''s jaw dropped from the dense mana in the atmosphere. "What the hell is going on!" he couldn''t help mutter. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 The silver lock of hair tickled my nostril and I sneeze. I can suddenly feel a pair of eyes looking at me, with love. My mother, Sylvia Rescher, as I have come to known many months before. I''m one years old, almost two. My mother never leaves my side, at first it was endearing and cute, but now it''s getting slightly irritating. I know I''m an old soul and I have no idea why I still keep some memory of my past self. Although the memory is blurry, I still know that this isn''t my world, but its a world that I know I would love. Ever since that incident, with the whole fusing my heart with the mana-thingy. I have come to realise that my body is different. Not in a sense that my body wasn''t any different to begin with, especially being reborn in a world of swords and magic. But you know how mana is in the air and in the atmosphere, that doesn''t seem to be the case when it comes to me. Somehow, I seem to be producing mana inside my body independently. Each beat of my heart pumps blood and mana. I can feel the power slithering through my body, I can feel it slowly strengthening every part of me with every circulation. I can insert my will into the mana more fluently, it feels like the mana is a part of me, an extension of my body if you will. I haven''t seen anyone use magic yet in this house, but since my sensitivity to mana is extremely high, I can feel the density or the Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. intensity of power that everyone I''ve ever met. Most people in this house, which I''ve identified as servants has a more negligible power index. Their influence of mana is extremely low and most of the mana seem to go straight past them, and some get absorb slowly in their body. But its different with my mother. I have noticed two a large bluish tint stone revolving slowly inside her and one slightly smaller stone. Its place opposite to the heart and the mana it''s like a vortex getting sucked in by the stones inside of her. I have noticed that two of the stone revolves in a synchronize and leisurely manner but the third stone, seem to revolve two times faster and is absorbing more of the mana in the air, as if it''s trying to grow. I wonder what''s the difference? I questioned. While I was pondering the questions that are swirling around my head. My mother brought me with her, through the transparent glass window the size of two doors and opened them. Leading us both out to the balcony. I know my parents are rich, some sort of noble perhaps, because looking down at most of the houses down below. There like living in mud huts compared to our dwelling. The balcony itself is built using the finest marble, it has intricate guardian statues, to me it looks like Gargoyles. The rest of the house is covered in intricate jewelry embedded in the walls, and the ceilings has lights that seem to absorb mana in the air as you turn them on, giving you light. I still don''t understand the principles of the magic in this world, given I''m not even two yet. "You seem awfully quiet for a child." my mother asked, looking worriedly at me. I flashed her a smile and jumped around to show her I''m still kind of normal. She smiled gently and rested her head atop of mine. The sun setting and the beauty of it, captivated both of us, until we both jump because two strong hands came at us from behind and nuzzled my mother''s neck. "Ahh!!" I cried out. My mother laugh at my expense of being scared. "Mason, you''re back." Sylvia said stroking her husband''s face. "Yeah. Its been a long day, I just got back from the forest with the men and nothing seem out of the ordinary. At most just a couple of unranked creatures passing by, nothing that would be a problem." he said grinning. I looked at my father carefully and inside his body is something different, instead of a stone, its more like a faintly shape sword in the form of mana. My father noticed my gaze and grabbed me with this arms and held me. "So.. why has Aluin been up to today. Have you been a good boy?" my father asked playfully. I stuck my tounge out at him. "Sylvia did you see that." he laughed. Sylvia rolled her eyes. "When you grow up, you''re going to be strong." he said while flinging me in the air and catching me again, This didn''t escapes my mother notice and scolded him. He cast her and apolgetic look but he was still smiling. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Years roll by rather quickly. I am now five years old and through out those short years, the mana in my body has become much more stronger, more purer. I can draw out a larger quantity of mana from the atmosphere compared to years ago. My influence on mana has taken a huge leap forward especially when I''m controlling my own. Perhaps this is the reason why my hair has turned slightly blue. My parents were alarmed at first but after consulting with the town Physician a ''Thirva'' in light magic, he simply smiled and told them not to worry, instead to celebrate, it means I am simply loved by mana. I am a child of mana as I hear him say. After this incident, my mother has taught me greatly about mana and its history and their different uses. Long ago, during the Era of Myths and legends, where Dragons, Dwarves and the Elves roamed the bountiful land of Lumithlind. Each of them held great power, the Dragons were very powerful each of them could destroy mountains with a single breath and were gifted by the God of chaos their own language; ''Eruer'' or in the ''Eolarhi'' tongue the language of the Kingdom of Lahyrst it is interpreted as the ''Dragon Words''. Each time a dragon use ''Eruer'' they could cause the weather to change or bring about great destruction. Because of the terrible power they held, their numbers are few. Dragons are aloof and prideful creatures and do not bother themselves with the business of the others. The Elves were blessed by the God of Nature, Elves are long-lived and can live for up to 500 years, each one of them are blessed with unnatural beauty and pearly white skin, both gender are slender and they use Elvish steel to forge their weapons, they have great influence in creation, ''Nature Magic'' or its in the Elvish tongue ''Naturae''. They live in the forest protecting the tree of legends, the miraculous ''Ygdrasil''. Not much is know about the powers of the ''World Tree'' but it has known to bring about miracles like bringing the dead back to life, unlike Necromancy who dabbles in the soul and the undead, a magic forbidden across the Kingdoms. They lived separately preferring the company of Nature, they dislike man because they saw their lust for power and greed. The Dwarves were blessed by the God of Creation, half the size of an average human but their natural strength more than doubles what they lack in height. They live among the mountains, beneath the earth all across the land of ''Lumithlind''. Obsess by their need to create great works of artistic creation, they mine the great bowels of the earth for its natural resources, such as metals and their precious stones. Blessed with the God of Creation, the weapons they create hold great power. For every strike of their hammer, they infuse it with mana and their will, creating many great and powerful magic weapons of Legends. As for Man, we simply appears like weeds in a luscious garden. The conditions were right and we simply came to being. The Gods have left the world long before we came to be, so unlike the great races of old, we were not blessed. We were weak and were hunted and killed by the many evil creatures that roamed this land. But our numbers were many, we outnumber those who first existed, but of course we were weak, we seek their help and the Elves came to our rescue. Protecting us from danger and teaching us the art of magic and how we could influence the power that is all around us called ''mana''. Soon we were able to imitate the power of Elves, although our system were weaker compared to theirs, but we finally had a weapon, something we can fight back with. After many centuries have passed, the Elves saw the true nature of man, for we are creatures of power and we lust for things not are own. Especially the men who were infatuated with the beauty of Elven women. So the Elves separated themselves from our kind and they now live to the far West of the continent, hidden from our sight by the power of ''Ygdrassil''. "That''s as far as I know about the world''s history." said my mother while smiling at me.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. "Now. Our magic has come along way since then. Through out hundreds of years, we have developed our magic to greatly influence the mana around us and make our magic stronger by using a ''mage stone'' that we can create inside us by accumulating a large quantity of mana and molding it into a core where it can act as conduit to perform our magic with. It is combined with the use of an incantation. For example." Sylvia pointed at the sky, she summoned one of the mage stone in her body and performed an incantation. ''Iheth'' she whispered. The mage stone revolve in a clock wise motion and summoned a searing heat of fire in a shape of a ball. It stayed motionless in the air and suddenly Sylvia stopped feeding mana through the mage stone and the ''fire ball'' vanished out in the thin air. "Wow!" I said breathlessly. My eyes wide open. "Ofcourse even if it is a lower Prima spell ''Fire ball'' a spell rated G- rank, the more mage stone a magician has, the more power they can insert to even the most simplest spell. But there is an exception, a mage can bring out the most power in a spell if his or her affinitty for the element is extremely high" she explained. "My affinity for fire is poor but it''s not non-existent hence I can do a simple spell from that element class." "So what element affinity do you have mum?" I asked. She simply smiled and once again raised her hand in the air. "Ihaem." Suddenly a giant water ball appeared in thin air. My eyes went wide with shock. "Before you ask. Yes this is the same rank as the ''Fireball'' spell, the only difference this time is that my affinity is higher." "So you should study the spells in the element class that is most suitable to you, and don''t forget that the difficulty of forming a mage stone increases with each one you make." she gently advice me. "That''s how an external magician uses magic. If you want to know about Internal magic, you should ask your father." "Thanks Mom." I gave her a quick kiss and a hug and ran off to find my father. "Fredrick!" I shouted, calling my personal attendant''s name. He appeared before me like a gust of wind. Fredrick has brown coloured hair, blue eyes and wear a combination of blue coat and white shirt underneath. He has two curved blades attached to his hips. He has been my guardian for 2 years now and has served my father for 10. He has been commanded by my father to protect me from all harm. ''Though I would prefer if it was a woman guarding me.'' I thought. "What''s wrong young master?" He asked me while bowing his head in a respectful manner, "Please Fredrick none of that." "As you command." he replied finally looking at me. "Do you know where my father is?" I asked him. "Yes he is out surveying the land. He said he has found something suspicious, and is investigating and make sure that nothing will attack the town." "Hmm. Then can I ask you why Internal magician are different compared to external magicians, seeing as you are one yourself." "Ofcourse young master, as you know I am a rank 2 internal magician, which is equivalent to a ''Sychra'' mage. An external mage like your mother can influence the mana outside of their body, so they can use powerful magic using an element such as fire as basis to create a lower Prima spell called the ''Fireball''. But for an internal mage, we struggle influencing mana outside of ourselves, so instead we influence the mana that is inside of us. For example, like your father and myself we identify as an internal sword magician, for inside of us, instead of forming a mage stone as a conduit, we form a weapon of choice, for example we form a sword and perform skills. Unlike spells, we don''t create magic out of thin air but we fuse the mana within ourselves or in our weapon." "Hmm." he paused. "I can see that you still don''t understand, here let me show you instead." He took a few steps away from me. His mana sword is very faint compared to my father, but it suddenly dispersed and spread throughout his body. "G-rank Skill ''Wind step''." the mana inside him suddenly turned transparent like the wind, converging to his legs and he then disappeared, only to appear to a much further location. My jaw dropped in amazement. "Now do you understand?" He asked as he perform his skill again to get back to me. "From that display you should know now that I''m a wind internal magician" I nodded furiously in excitement. Chapter 3 Chapter III Excited by the prospects of magic, I ask my mother for spell books. She simply shook her head and laugh sweetly. "You do know, without forming a mage stone you can''t cast any spells, Aluin and it''s dangerous to do so." she gently chided. "I know mom." I whine slightly. "I just want to read some more about it." I reasoned. She sighed and pointed eastward. "There''s some low rank spell and skill books for external and internal mages in the family library." "Love you mum." I shouted as I ran as fast as I could towards the library. "Love you too, Aluin, just don''t do anything stupid." "Okay!" "Boys will be boys." she muttered in resignation and went back to reading her book in the garden. **** The family library is covered in all sorts of books. From the history of the Kingdom, to the founder of the different towns spread across the Kingdom of Lahyrst to spell books and skill books. They were servants cleaning and getting rid of the dust in the library. They were in charge of cleaning and maintaining the condition of the library. "Good afternoon young master." A servant bowed politely after noticing my presence. I smiled at her and continued on my way to look for the books that I am interested in. "Ahah!" I said to myself. Picking up the spell book "Ignition" and another spell book "Water Bullet" both G-rank spells. I rummage some more, ignoring the complicated spell books rated above G- rank spells. Although I did find an interesting spell, like "Absolution" this spell can double the weight of any chosen target, however it''s a E-rank spell that requires you to at least have formed two mage stone. I rummage some more and managed to find, an introduction to mana, and a two skill books called, "Mana Step" and "Mighty Blow" both G-rank skills. I grinned in anticipation and ran back to my room. *** "Okay." I said calming my excitement. I first grabbed the introduction to mana book it briefly explained how mana is use everyday. Most humans do not have the capability or the destiny to become a mage. To become a mage, you must accumulate enough mana and from it into a stone as a conduit for mana to enable the use of greater magic. Unfortunately that is easier said than done. Most people who do not come from a noble lineage cannot form a mage stone due to their body not suited to house a mana that dense, but there are always exceptions and there have been many cases over the years where eventually a commoner did become a magician. Magicians often than not marry other magicians in order to guarantee that the heir they produce would also be a mage. People can still use some form of magic with limited use, even without a mage stone. At most they can create spark to ignite fire, or move certain objects with their mind. "Interesting." I muttered. I then proceed to pick up a skill book called "Mana step" and began to read it. So in order to use this skill, you must atleast be a rank 1 internal magician. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I have heard from Fredrick that in order to become a rank 1 internal magician you first have to first form a mage stone then mold it into a weapon of your choice. The more real your mana weapon looks, the stronger you get and that''s how you advanced in ranks. "Let''s focus." So first, will the weapon stone to dispersed all throughout your body, imagine applying the mana to your legs and the mana strengthening it. "Sounds easy enough." I said sarcastically. Focusing on the mana inside myself. Since I haven''t yet formed my mage stone or weapon stone, I have to use the mana inside me. Now that I think about, my mother did say that they only form mana stone to better infuse their will to the mana and the incantation to direct the mana like a set of instructions. But considering that this mana is produce from my body, that means I don''t need some sort of conduit to inflict my will. I could just directly command the mana inside me to do whatever I want since it''s a part of me. Focusing on the mana inside of me, I then command it to strengthen my legs and whole body. Given its first instructions the mana surge complied happily with its masters demands. The strange thing is, the mana just didn''t coat itself to my flesh, to temporarily strengthen it, since the mana is a part of me, it began to strengthen my body permanently with each pump of my heartbeat. "What the hell!" I gasped. During those minutes, I could feel the flesh, the bones thickening. My strength rapidly beginning to rise. "Too ''op.'' I muttered silently to myself. I then began to speculate that although, my body was being strengthened even before then, since the mana didn''t have a purpose it couldn''t have made dramatic effect like this. The density of mana within my body has more than doubled. My body alone with its current state now, could challenge a rank 1 internal magician without the use of mana. Magicians who supposedly boast the superior physical body and strength compared to an external magician who are physically weak when compared to an internal magician of the same rank. Using the principles of the skill book ''Mana Step'' I circulated the mana and commanded it to increase my speed. I took a step forward, and my spelled more than doubled. Looks like the mana within me increased my speed to about 10 times my normal speed. "Crazy." But not knowing how to control my power properly yet, I crashed hard into the wall, creating a huge hole in my room. "Oh. Shit!" I cursed and landed on the hard ground outside my house. The fall or the collision did not hurt me because of my newly strengthened body. "Aluin! Are you okay?" My mother shouted as she rushed to my side. "Young master!" exclaimed Fredrick. "What happened she asked, are we under attack!" she asked while looking up at the large hole in my room. "Fredrick surveyed the perimeter, mobilise the guards and quickly capture the intruder. Capture him alive so I can personally teach him what happens if anyone has any ill intentions towards my child" commanded my mother. Due to her anger, the surrounding area started to freeze. "Yes, Maa''m." He bowed and ready to leave. "Strange, I should have been able to detect if there was anyone suspicious entering the mansion grounds." she muttered. "Fredrick stop. Mom, there was no intruder or anyone attacking the house." I protested. Fredrick stopped in his tracks. "I''m afraid it was me." I whispered. My mother''s face darkened. "Explain." she demanded. "I was trying to do an internal magic skill called "Mana Step." I explained shyly. "That''s not possible!" My mother exclaimed. "You at least have to be a rank 1 inner magician to use that skill." Sylvia stopped and proceed to observe her son carefully. After a moment, her eyes widened. Noticing the density of mana inside her son, comparable to a ''Prima'' mage. "No way! You how?" she shouted with excitement. "Normally the normal age for first forming your mage stone would be age 12, but you already completed it when you''re ony 5 years old. My son is a dragon. A dragon amongst men. HAHAHAAH!" she laughed with glee. "Congratulations, young master." Fredrick said with awe. "I knew ever since I met you, that you are going to be extraordinary." I laughed shyly. "We have to tell your father!" "Tell me what." Mason having arrived asked. Looking up he saw the large hole in his son''s room. "And what happened there?" "Honey! You would never guess." Sylvia said excitedly. "Guess what honey." replied Mason, still looking at the large hole and piecing a puzzle inside his head to what happened. It didn''t seem to be an attack since none of the servants were panicking and the guards weren''t mobilise. Most importantly his wife was here with an excited expression, so clearly this isn''t a bad situation, rather a happy one. "Your son, our child, has formed his first mage stone." she announced excitedly. At first Mason, did not understand, but then the words his wife said, finally sank in. He ran towards his son and lifted him up in the air with joy. "That''s my boy." he said proudly. I laughed and then noticed, the green gooey blood stain on my father''s armour. "Eww father what are those on your armor." "Ah. This, I''ll explain later. But first let''s celebrate!!" Chapter 4 Chapter IV While eating around the table. Mason, my father was telling me how he encountered a bunch of footprints that look''s similar to goblin''s footprints. The Footprints was fresh and it was headed straight to one of the farm nearby. So he followed them and fortunately they didn''t get there too late. So he slaughtered a them all. There was only about five of them. Since the monsters were only G-rank monsters, the fight was finish as soon as it started. Hence the reason for the green gooey blood on his armour. "What did they look like?" "Well short humanoid looking monster, stands at about 3 ft tall with scrawny body. They have this huge oversize heads mostly hairless and massive ears and beady red eyes." replied my father, enjoying his chicken leg. "Cool." "I want to see one." I said, looking at my father with begging eyes. "Someday kiddo." my father laughed. "Ofcourse as the noble overseeing this town, it is our responsibility to protect the people in Westmire. That is our duty as a noble, to protect the livelihood of the people. Not just because it was decreed by the King but because it is our responsibility as a mage." "Always remember this my boy. We should never use power to harm others but instead to protect those who cannot protect themselves." Mason smiled while putting his hand on top of Aluin''s head. "Yes father." "Come on! Get ready for bed, you must be exhausted from forming your mage stone today." Mason said. I set down my utensils and proceed to kiss my mother and father goodbye. "Goodnight." I said "Night too kiddo. Love you son. I''m so proud of you." replied Mason. "Night, Aluin, have a pleasant sleep. Love you" said Sylvia. "Love you too, mom, dad." *** Sylvia look at her husband while drinking her tea, the smooth aroma relaxing her body. "So tell me dear, what''s on your mind." ask Sylvia, looking into her husbands eyes. "Nothing." he replied. "Come on. I''ve been married to you for five years now and we''ve known each other even longer than that, don''t you think I know everything about you by now ." she reasoned, Mason laughed gently but his were slightly worried. "What happened? Did something happen to the family? Did you get there too late?" The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "No. It''s not that. Just that there''s a feeling I can''t seem to shake off. I know goblins are quite common around the Kingdom, but they normally don''t come this in far to look for food especially since the great war with the Goblin King 100 years ago." he paused. Taking a sip of his strong whisky. "Ever since their defeat, they have stuck living inside the jagged valleys of the ''Desolate Forest'', of course I might just be over thinking it and those group of Goblins might have just wandered away just a bit too far from their territory." Sylvia got up from her chair and press her forehead against his and closed her eyes. "I''m sure it''s nothing dear." she reassured him. "Besides, with you and me here, even if there''s a new Goblin KIng. At most their ranking is only C- rank. With you and me here, nothing''s going to happen." she said soothingly while kissing him on the lips. "Come on, let''s get some rest, you must have had a long day." she smiled while taking his hand and hers. "What would I do without you." he smiled and kissed her hand. **** It''s been a few days from the incident of me creating a large hole in my room. Although my parents thought that I already formed my first mage stone which is not the case, because my path is completely different from theirs. The magicians here use the mage stone as their base of power and I use my own mana as mine. Although I have find out from experiments that my path and theirs are not that all different, they are quiet similar to each other. I can form a mage stone like how my mother use magic to avoid suspicion, or I can act like an internal mage, they hardly going to know the difference. But compared to their system, mine is more effective and flexible. Instead of amplifying my magic with an incantation, I can just give my mana a command and imagine their effects, the more complicated it is the harder it is to manifest but I know my control over my power will get better with time. The more days that pass the more stronger I get. Currently with just my physical strength alone, I can already split rocks with just my fist. Added with mana, the effect is amplified by ten. I have learned how to extract mana from the atmosphere and convert them into my own. So instead of learning from the different spell books, I have decided that I will create my own. Since my mana is more flexible, I can mentally control how much mana I can input into a spell or a skill and the output will reflect the power. For example I have created an original skill called ''Bullet Impact'', it''s a spell that doesn''t have any elemental effect, it''s just pure power created from my mana. It works by me pointing my finger towards my target like a gun, gathering mana to my finger tips and firing it. Depending how much mana I gather the stronger the power. Given enough time, I can probably level a mountain. Right now, I''m just practicing keeping the mana coating my body at all times, so I am protected from any danger and it also raises my mana proffiecency. "Aluin, are you ready?" Sylvia called out from down below. Oh, shit. I''m suppose to be getting ready since were going to visit the town today. "Just a minute, I''m almost ready." I replied. With my enhanced speed, I quickly put on my favourite blue shirt and green robe on top of it, I finish my attire with blue linen trouser and black leather boots. Our house is located in the outskirts of the town so it''s quite a long journey if we were walking, but luckily we have our own luxurious carriage. I quickly got down to meet my parent''s waiting for me downstairs. *** The town of Westmire is located to the West of Magepeak city, the capital city of the Kingdom. Westmire is surrounded by forest that spreads across the land. The ancient groves spreads towards the East, direction of Lahyrst and Corwy. This type of environment promotes, herbalism, crafting, fletching and smithing. Since many magical beast lives in the forest, all sorts of adventurer gather materials from the creatures that lives there and the plants. The deeper in the forest you go, the stronger the creatures that you will meet. Chapter 5 Chapter V We have arrived in Westmire after twenty minutes of riding in the carriage with two of the best horses the kingdom could offer. The huge wooden gate, reinforced with steel plate is guarded by two guards wearing heavy armour. I could tell they are rank 1 internal mages, because their body has a really faint form of their weapon in mana form. The one to the right has a sword mana stone that looks like it would flicker out of existence, it''s the same case with the left guard although his weapon form of an axe. Though you don''t really have to see the mana stone in them to know what kind of Internal Magicians they are, it is already obvious from the weapons they are carrying. "Good morning Master Rescher, Mada''m Sylvia and young Aluin." they both greeted. Normally they would have to check our identity using an appraisal stone and have us pay the entrance fee which is 5 silver, but since my family is the guardian of this town we went through the gate no hassle. Having gone inside the city, I couldn''t help but gasp again at its beauty, the amount of people moving about their busy life just adds to its magnificent''s. The vibrant shops luring customer in with their goods and the chatter of the people that is pleasant to the ears, I could never get enough of this, for in my heart, there is no other town such as You can see groups of people travelling together in and out of the town, wearing fancy armour and weapons. These people were known as adventurers. They apply at an adventurers guild located at the end of the town. There they can see quest rated A-G. G is the lowest rank quest which means low difficulty and A rank quest is one of the highest quest although it''s just below S rank quest, which is so difficult only one person has ever completed such as quest, which was killing a dragon. Taverns is also a common sight in the town of Westmire for many families from other town comes to visit for a short while, enjoying the entertainments this town has to offer like the fighting arena and the beach. Food stalls covers each corner selling different kinds of meat, vegetables, herbal medicines, potions and many more. *** "Now since you''re now officially a magician, I will buy your first weapon of choice. Normally you''ll know the type of magician you are through a testing stone at the academy but since we still not sure which one you are, I''ll just buy you a weapon of your choice and a wand." said Mason to his son. "Really?" I said my eyes growing wide. "Thanks dad." I said as I gave him a hug. "No problem, as long as you promise me that you won''t slack off in your training." he said laughing, ruffling my blue with his hands. "Come now Aluin." said Sylvia beckoning her son to enter the shop that sells different weapons and wands for magicians. Going inside, I decide to browse different types of weapons, to swords, axes, whips, throwing knifes but none of them seem to hold my interest. Each one of them was good with their own unique effect.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Like for example a sword called ''Fire Blade''a D- rank weapon that cost 100 gold coins which is equivalent to 10,000 silver and 100,000 copper coins . This weapon sets on fire on the edge of the blade when you feed mana to it, it amplifies the power of an Internal Fire magician. Hmm.. It''s really hard to choose, but I really want a unique weapon. But then something caught my eye. An ordinary dagger with a very short, narrow, warped blade made of ivory and is held by a grip wrapped in high quality, sapphire blue scaled leather. The blade has a small, slightly curved cross-guard, just large enough to protect the owner''s fingers. This blade looks perfect for me. I picked it up and tested its weight. I give it a few practice swings. The more I held it in my hand, the more it felt that it is made for me. But then I notice that it doesn''t have a price tag on it, so I brought the dagger to the owner. "Excuse me how much is this and what kind of dagger this is." I asked him. The middle-aged man looked at the weapon I brought him, he looked carefully while putting his glasses. "Ah, that!" he exclaimed. "I don''t think that weapon is any good young master Aluin." he said. "Why not?" "Well because it''s just an ordinary dagger, it''s no magic weapon at all. I bought it from an adventurer for a few coppers." he explained. "If it was worthless why did you buy it?" I asked him curious. I''m not sure if he''s lying or not. This dagger is not ordinary that''s for sure, I could a feel strong power in this dagger, its hidden deep within it like a sleeping dragon. "Well, I''m an avid collector, so anything I find interesting and worth collecting I buy." He paused and then looked at me carefully. "But if you want, you can have it for 1 silver." "Okay." I nodded. "Mom, Dad, I want this one." I said. "Are you sure?" ask Mason, inspecting the dagger that his son has chosen and finding nothing special with it. I nodded furiously. "Just one silver please Master Rescher, as you can see that dagger is not a magic weapon." Mason handed the man the money and left together with his wife and kids. *** The Rescher family were having lunch at a very fancy restaurant that serves the meat of magic beast. The meat of a magic beast is beneficial to a mage, the higher the rank of the beast the better the effects. When suddenly the warning bell atop the watch tower rung in warning. My parents then got up and pick me up as quickly as they could to see what the commotion was about, as the guardian of this town he and mom were responsible for the safety of the citizens. A guard was running back into town, face terrified and exhausted. He was searching throughout the crowds clearly looking for someone. When he finally saw my family he breathe a sigh of relief and ran towards us quickly. "Sir! Goblins Sir! so many of them." "Where?" ask my father shaken by the news. "How many?" "5000 strong and they are led by 5 Goblin shaman estimated to be C-rank accompanied by 200 ogres and more incoming" "What the hell is happening? How come we didn''t see this big of an army coming." he asked expasperated. "Don''t we have guards watching the ''Desolate Forest''." "I don''t know how they did it sir but the army just seemed to appear out of thin air." "That''s not possible." my father whispered. "Send word to nearby towns and to the capital city, tell them what''s going on and that we need some reinforcements." "Yes sir." the guard saluted and ran as quickly as he could. "Sylvia, take Aluin home and tell Fredrick to muster rest of the guards towards town." Mason said. "No I''m coming with you, you can''t do this alone." she said. He smiled. "Anything I can do to change your mind?" "None. Besides you need the extra help. At most we only have 2000 internal mages and 1000 external mages." "Fine, take Aluin home and then come with Fredrick." She nooded and squeezed his hands. "Be safe." Mason smiled and kiss her son and wife and left for war. Chapter 6 Chapter VI Having arrived at the Rescher compound my mother immediately called for Fredrick who has already heard the news and had the soldiers gathered just outside the family estate. "Madam the soldiers are ready." bowed Fredrick. "Good job Fredrick." replied Sylvia. Sylvia stood in front of the soldiers, her back straight filled with strength and determination, her eyes scanned over her brave soldiers, each of them unafraid and determined. "Soldiers of Westmire, we know what''s at stake here. If we fall here then we would have failed not just the Kingdom but also our family, friends and love ones. I know the situation is dire but I need you to be brave and strong." Sylvia then turned around and shouted "March! soldiers of Westmire!." "ARGHHHH!" they replied with equal ferocity. I am inside the house for my own safety. The ones left over were the servants who couldn''t fight. All of them have worried faces, I do not know whether it was for their own safety or for their family. I clenched my fist. I want to help, I know I can. I don''t want to be stuck up here while my parents fight an almost unwinnable battle. Knowing from the almost never-ending number of army that are approaching, it was only a matter of time before the army will get overwhelmed. Hopefully the reinforcements will come in time. "Help! Help! Help!" the shrieking voice of a terrified woman, caught my ears. She was covered in number of cuts and her clothes is covered in blood. Dirt smudges her fair face. She is being followed by two ugly creatures, humanoid in appearance but these two were definitely not human. "Goblins!" I uttered. Without hesitation I run out drawing my dagger. Reinforcing my body with mana, I arrived with great speed in front of the distress woman. The two goblin flinched at my abrupt arrival in shock, after looking at each other and seeing that I was only a 5-year-old child, they grinned evilly in unison. Slobber coming out of the corner showing their jagged and yellow teeth. They wore thick leather armour and both have a short sword as a weapon. Without hesitation, I wielded the mana inside of me with precision, focusing my mana on legs to surprise them by initiating the first attack. Leaping forward I swung my blade at the goblin on the right, seeing my attack the goblin put his sword to block my attack but it was only a feint, I immediately changed target to the one on the left by using my right foot to quickly pivot towards the left goblin. I thrust my sword to his heart, then proceed to use both my feet to kick its body off my sword, I did a back flip then proceed to kick the remaining goblin with my enhance leg on the side of its ugly face. The fight was over quickly. I knew they were no match for me, especially cannon fodder goblins. I quickly walked towards the woman sprawled on the ground. "Are you okay?" I asked her. She nodded, exhausted. "Thank you for helping, but please my daughter, save her." she breathe out and collapse on the spot. I immediately called out to the servants to help her and take care of her. As the two men were carrying her away, I look at the worry still plastered on her face. I clenched my fist in anger. I know in my heart that I have to go. "I''m sorry mom and dad, but I have to help her. Since this is also the duty of a Rescher." Stolen novel; please report. **** I headed out towards the direction she was running from, I followed her tracks using mana to enchanced my eyes greatly help with my search. Hmm... I can hear goblins not far away from my location. There''s something else I''m picking up, it sounds like they are dragging something with them. According to my estimation, there seem to be about six goblins transporting something. I jumped up the tree to avoid being seen, I was curious to what they were doing and maybe these goblins will lead me to who I''m looking for. A few moments later, six humanoid cre?ture appeared, with them were six unconscious girls. "Hehehe! Human females are the best, the boss will be happy we have more females to impregnate to increase our numbers." said one of the goblins. I bawled my fist in anger, about to attack, my mana surge in response to my anger. "Do you feel that." one of the goblin said, Looking around warily. "What is it Dazz.!" asked another Goblin, Dazz look around one more time and shook his green deformed head. "Nothing.!" he said. The goblins were heading east towards a small cave inside the forest. I followed after them silently, utilizing my tiny body to hide between the bulky bodies of the trees. The goblins went inside after one more checking they weren''t followed. I waited for a moment before also heading inside the crevice like entrance. The inside of the cave is full of Goblin stench, it was dark and slimy but I could see torches up ahead. Sneaking silently, I arrived at an opening, there were about thirty goblins stationed, some were busy molesting the female captives. Out of the corner of my eyes I notice the six goblins I was following delivering the goods to what I assume would be the leader of this place. This goblins look different from the rest. He is twice as large and he is wearing an armour of a different design, the armour is red and covered all the vital points of his body except for his face and the back of the Goblin''s head was a purple stone atop his armor. He also carried a menacing weapon. It was like a weirdly shape spear but instead of a spear head, this weapon has a blade tip curved like a sword and the blade also has a purple stone embedded inside of it. "This guy is no joke. I can feel a thick dense dark mana inside of him. This guy must be a goblin shaman" I smiled and stood up, I raised my blade in readiness and attacked. Quickly finishing off the five goblins that were closes to me. I raised my hand and formed a finger gun and fired ten consecutive shot of the original spell ''Bullet Impact'' killing or injuring the goblins that were still shock from the sudden attack. The shaman then looked in shock and anger, seeing its men murdered. He raides his weapon and pointed at me. "Attack him." commanded the shaman. I laugh then lunged towards him, sheathing my dagger, I raised my fist and covered it in mana, I punched out but the shaman quickly activated a shield barrier protecting himself. "Tsk! How annoying." The goblins did not hesitate and grabbed their weapons and immediately began to surround me. I dodged each of their attack, my sensitivity in the surrounding mana help me see everything in my immediate surroundings. I spread out the mana inside of me, shaping them into physical spikes and launching them forward everywhere, at the same time, I erected barriers for the girls held up in here. There is about forty girls held hostage, some of them already showing signs of carrying goblin offsprings. "I''ll let dad deal with that later." After my last attack only 5 goblins and their leader were left standing. "You! Puny little human. How are you so strong!" the shaman shrieked in anger. "Surrender and I will spare your life." I told him. The sudden usage of massive amounts of mana is taking a toll on my young body. I have to end this quickly. "Never." he said menacingly. He pointed his weapon towards me and launched an attack spell. "Fireris!" he screeched. A ball of fire launched towards me, I covered my arm in mana and punched out, destroying the spell and absorbing the leftover mana, strengthening myself. "My turn." I smiled. I spread out my palm towards the shaman and began to gather mana in my open palm. The shaman shrieked in fear, so did the remaining goblins. "Attack him quickly!" the shaman ordered but the 5 goblins couldn''t move from fear, it wasn''t any help that I am exerting pressure on them using mana. I blasted the gathered mana towards the remaining enemies. The shaman attempted to withstand my attack with his barrier but my attack was too strong. The purple stone embedded in his armour cracked and shattered. "NOOO!!" the shaman started as he was hit directly by the blast. The goblins were immediately disintegrated, not even their ashes remained, while the shaman barely survived. His whole body is burnt through and through, his armour cracked and laid broken on the stone cold floor. "Good thing I held back a little. I still need him to give me some information." I said. I immediately collapse on the floor, exhausted. Chapter 7 Chapter VII It''s been twenty minutes since the fight ended. I lay my back against the stone cold walls of the cave. The stench of blood still lingered within the cave, littered with dead mangled bodies of the enemy. Their green blood slithered underneath them congregating and traveling like a listless snake. The shaman is tied up on one of the protruding stalactite made naturally by the cave. He is tightly secured by the rope made of my very own mana. He is still breathing so I know he isn''t dead but he isn''t quite conscious yet. The women captured huddled against each other, weary and tired. Their eyes seem lifeless, especially the ones carrying their oppressors off-spring. They look at me warily but I ignored their gaze, I''m exhausted and I overwork my 5-year-old body. Finally life seem to spur to my captive. First he groan then slowly blink his eyes opens. He wince slightly from just moving slightly. Observing his surrounding, the shaman finally notice me. "You!" he said. His mouth snarled in anger, he showed me his bare teeth agressively. He struggled against the rope that was binding him but he was too weak to break my magic. "You know why I kept you alive." I said calmly. "Foolish boy!" He replied, chuckling slightly. "You think you can make me, Oivix listen to you! You a mere child." he laughed and then spat a mouthful of green blood. I closed my eyes briefly then looked at him. Observing him, and his burnt mangled body. Slowly I got up and then walked towards him, pressing my fingers against his flesh applying a slight pressure. "ARRRRGGGHHHH!!" he screamed in agony. I simply smiled cooly and began to slowly amp up the pressure. His screams must have startled the captives since they also whimpered slightly and began to huddle even more intimately with each other. I glanced at them and saw that they look at me differently, warily; almost like I''m some sort of monster. I don''t know but the look of fear in their face seem to ignite some sort of adrenaline in me. The need to see more fear in their face, to make them even more terrified of me. I barely paid attention to my tortured victim or his pleas for me to stop, the sound of his scream is music to my ears. "Please!!" he croaked. "Listen to me Oivix, if you don''t give me what I want, I will make sure that you will suffer for a very long time. It''s your choice, either way die a painless death or die screaming all the way to hell." I threatened menacingly. "HAHAHAAHAHAHA! I''m not scared of you boy! I admit your strong but you''re no match for what''s coming to you. For all of you!!" he screamed in deranged laughter. "What do you mean." I asked, while grabbing a piece of flesh hanging off his arm and then ripping it slowly. Oivix screams are even more louder, I''m suprise that no one else heard his harrowing scream, I wouldn''t mind helping my mom and dad lower the numbers of enemies their facing. "The plans are already in motion. There will be no help coming." he whispered. "Tell me what you know." I said. Digging my hand inside his body. "And this, what is this." I asked him, holding up the purple stone. "Still not going to answer?" I asked him, inflicting even more pain. "Please stop! I''ll answer, I''ll answer." he begged. I let go and looked at him expectantly. The shaman Oivix look at the stone that I was holding and grinned. "That is called a Ritual Stone. You can store a single spell inside of it and invoke it any time with no delay." he answered.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Tell me what you mean when you said that no one is coming to help." "It''s simple." he laughed. "They simply wouldn''t be able to. Since the KIngdom and every town are also under attack." he finished dramtically. "That''s impossible!" I exclaimed. "The goblins are not the only ones who hate your kind, filthy human!" "How did your army past all the sentry." I asked him. "Our friends gave us a relic, a very powerful one." "Bye human!" he said while laughing like a derange animal. His body suddenly swelled. I sensed a foreign object filled with dark magic. Oh crap! Someone put some type of explosive in his body. This was probably put their to prevent him leaking anymore information. I have to get out of here and relay the information to my parents in the front line. But first, I erected a thick shield right in front of me to withstand the explosion. The captives shrieked in fear. "Come closer to me." I told them. *BOOOOMMM!* The cave started shaking from the explosion, and the stalactite''s on the ceiling of the cave started dropping on us. I notice that the combination of stone and stalactites dropping were slowly covering up the exit. "Follow me, if you don''t want to trapped here." I demanded. I began to move towards the exit but suddenly, one large boulder dropped almost squashing me, I quickly dodged to the side. "Shit! Were locked in." I said looking around for another way. I looked up and saw the ceiling is going to crumble. If I don''t find an exit soon, we will all be buried to death in here. I couldn''t just randomly burst through using magic, who knows if that could trigger the entire cave system to collapse. A girl with blonde hair wearing a white robe grabbed my shoulder and pointed to a corner in the room. "An exIt?" I asked. She simply nodded. The amount of stalactites falling were increasing and a lot of women died from it. Sorry that I can''t save all of you but there''s simply no time. I grabbed the blonde hair by the hand, putting most of my mana on both of my legs, I leaped towards the direction she pointed at. Manipulating my mana to shield both of us, we crashed into the wall and burst through into a separate clearing. I looked behind me and found that the ceiling collapse burying everyone underneath it. Phew! That was close. I look at the girl I brought with me. I surmised she was only older than me by 5 years. She sat up after recovering from the sudden impact. I too got up slowly and looked around. "Where are we?" I whispered. "Hey you okay?" I asked, looking at the blonde girl. She simply nodded and didn''t say anymore. I''m guessing by her current appearance that she hasn''t been here for long. Maybe she is one the one I came to save in the first place. I looked back at the rubble and the gigantic pile of stones blocking the source of our entry. I guess there''s no more going back that way. I clicked my finger and summoned my mana to make a ball of fire to light the way. I controlled the light source to get some sort of idea of what kind of place we ended up in. From what I can see, this seems to be an entrance of some sort. Looking up and ahead of me, all I can see is darkness. In front of us is a narrow path with no visible forks on the road. Oh well there''s nothing for it. I walked towards her and held out my hand. "Come on let''s go." *** After about half an hour of walking into this narrow path I notice different types of glowing stones embedded on the stone cave walls. I touched a number of them and they feel smooth and soft, I tried causually plucking out one of them and they come off easily. "Mimi." the blonde haired girl suddenly said. "Huh?" I looked back suddenly distracted. "My name is Mimi." she whispered softly. "Oh. Uhh.. Aluin. Nice to meet you Mimi." I replied and held out my hand to shake her''s. She looked at my hand questioningly and simply bowed her head. "Nice to meet you Aluin. Umm.. if you don''t mind me asking but how old are you?" she asked timidly. "Five." I said casually. She looked startled by that piece of news and did not say anything. Guess that''s the end of that conversation. Can''t blame her, after what she been through today, I''m surprise she''s keeping it together this good. I''m getting hungry, I hope we meet someone that knows how to get out of here, I feel like were simply walking into a maze. "Get back." I warned. I immediately jumped back sensing a cre?ture up ahead, I grab Mimi and crouch close to the wall. I turned off the ball of fire and mask our presence using mana. Because of my enhance eye sight I could still see even if the whole place is covered in darkness. Sort of my own version of Night vision google''s. A giant rat appeared just ahead of us, it must have come out from somewhere, which means this path might lead to a fork up ahead. The blue giant rat stood on its front legs and is twitching its whiskers. Like it''s looking for something. Maybe it''s looking for us. "Stay here." I whispered. I''m pretty sure Mimi couldn''t see that cre?ture in this darkness. Well I''m hungry, let''s hope that this rat is edible. Drawing my weapon silently, I walked quietly towards the rat, masking the sound of my movement with my mana. The rat must have felt that something was off because it suddenly lash out with it''s tail. It sailed towards me like a whip but I simply smiled and caught it calmly with one hand and pulled the rat towards me and aimed for its throat so it couldn''t squeal for help. Just incase there were more of them. "Let''s take a break." I called out, making the ball of fire again. I made a hole in the cave wall to use as a makeshift shelter then covered it again so we wouldn''t be disturbed.